Wolves manager Gary O’Neil has accused Arsenal of time-wasting after the Gunners defeated his side 2-1 yesterday.
Despite a challenging start to the game, Wolves significantly improved after the break and aimed for a draw in the closing stages of the match. However, Arsenal effectively managed the game, securing the win and maintaining their position at the top of the league table.
O’Neil expressed his frustration with the slow pace of the fixture during the closing stages and mentioned his surprise at what he perceived as Arsenal’s time-wasting tactics.
He said, as quoted by the Daily Mail:
‘So it just felt they (referee Peter Bankes) could have managed the time better for us and we could have got all the allotted time.
‘I think the ball was out of play for so much of that sort of last six minutes that we got. I felt some should have been added on time.
‘Sometimes you don’t expect Arsenal to be time-wasting but I am sure if we had taken as long over some of the throws and restarts away at the Emirates we would have been receiving yellow cards.
‘No criticism of Arsenal, if it was me I would’ve had my team taking their time at that moment as well.’
Just Arsenal Opinion
It is not a surprise that O’Neil has said this, but it also does not make it true and we did manage the game well.
His comments will not take away the credit from our players for having an impressive game, as most of them were in good shape.
But in our next games, we have to score more goals earlier and make the game safer.
We, like every team in that position, wasted time.
That’s life I’m afraid and it’s been going on for as long as I have been watching and playing football… the latter being more of a guess, as I don’t really remember too much! 🤣😂
So embarrassing! Almost as embarrassing as Pep Guardiola when he says “I will not do a Mikel Arteta comment”… When he say so, he just do. But much worse. Much more st*p*d. It seems like the old Pep-complex that Arteta were suffering from, have turned to the opposite: Pep Guardiola are developing a Mikel-complex. That’s good.
He has to have something to whine about every week.
Arsenal should have killed that game off long before their goal was gifted to them. That is the annoying thing…
Headline:
“O’Neil accuses Arsenal of time wasting..”
O’Neil’s comment:
“‘No criticism of Arsenal, if it was me I would’ve had my team taking their time at that moment as well.’”
Doesn’t seem like he’s accusing Arsenal of anything.
It’s reverse psychology. In my opinion it’s indirect speech if it’s him who actually brought the subject up. He was being very sneaky. If the time wasting thing was not bothering him then he would not have mentioned it to start with. You don’t point or mention something that you don’t want to be highlighted.
If the interviewer was the one that brought it to his attention then maybe I would understand.
He’s complaining about the officiating, not the actions of the arsenal players
Which means he is complaining about Arsenal players time wasting then. For example: If a manager complains about his players not have being protected during a match means two things or more;
1: He thinks the opposing team played rough and dirty.
2: He is not happy about the Referee not being fair or competent in clamping down on the opposition players etc..
It’s like one parent complaining about another parent’s parental skills. Once they start complaing about another parents parental skills means they are indirectly complaining about that parent’s children’s behaviours.
Isn’t it?
That’s how I interpret stuff like this.
From the 6 minutes added on, a further 3/4 were added so the referee did take account of the delaying tactics.
The officials have the option to censure slow throw ins annd goal kicks and acrobatic dives. If the team chooses to keep the ball by the corner flag, then that is part and parcel of seeing a game out for a win.
To be honest nearly each match this season keeping going on beyond 3 or 5 added minutes. Matches keep going on up to 11 added minutes if not more. Three added minutes seems to be a relic, I can’t remember many games this season not going beyond 5 added on time.
It means we are not the only ones wasting time. Everyone does seem to do the same. Nearly all Yesterday’s games went on for about 11 added minutes.
I think we need to be objective in our assessment of these kind of situations. Our players always push it to the limit when it comes to taking throw ins. Zinchenko and Tomiyasu in particular, always make it appear like it’s chess. It’s very frustrating knowing they could get yellow carded anytime in those instances. A few games ago, Saka also took centuries to take a corner. There’s game management and there’s time wasting; c’mon we know the difference.
Yes, we do run the clock down, like all other teams, and Wolves got an extra 3 minutes on top of the already added time, so Gary should stop whingeing.
I do however think that our throw ins are really, really slow at all times of the game, something Ben White was carded for earlier in the season. It must be tactical or they would have coached it out by now.
The only time I see anyone taking a quick throw in, is when they are behind in the game, or the marking is suspect.
I do believe that AW’s suggestion of a free kick rather than a throw in, has great merit, as it is very rare to see a clear advantage resulting from a throw in anyway.